A Quick February Catch Up

For me, February has flown by in a blur of pancakes, Valentine's Day and a book deadline. We've had the promise of spring with sunshine and a bit of colour in the garden, but all that was undone on Tuesday by the arrival of the Beast From the East. Cue lots of snow and the hope of a snow day (no such luck for my kids).

Here's what else I've been getting up to this month - let me know how your February has been in the comments below!

 

This month, I've been busy finishing The Single Mums' Picnic Club, which had a cover reveal last week (you can see the blog post here), and I'm so pleased to say I managed to reach The End just in time for my deadline!

 

 

The book is now with my editor, so I'm going to have a little writing break while I wait for the first round of edits.

 

 

 

I started Goodbye Ruby Tuesday by A L Michael at the weekend, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm hoping to get a lot more reading done during my little writing break and I have LOADS of books waiting patiently on my TBR pile!

 

 

Also this month, I've read Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas, The Other Us by Fiona Harper and S is for Stranger by Louise Stone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This month, I've been watching The Olympics (mainly the women's curling), Dancing On Ice, Back In Time For Tea and The Good Place (which has now ended - boo).

 

I've also now caught up on all series of Vera, as I downloaded them all from ITV Player and binged through them (I bought myself the latest Vera book, The Seagull, so I'm looking forward to reading my first Vera book now). I've also been re-watching Friends from the beginning on Netflix - they never get old!

 

 

 

 

You can find me on Instagram here

 

 

So, that's my February in a nutshell! Let us know what you've been up to, or pass on any book/TV recommendations, in the comments below :) 

 

The Wedding that Changed Everything: Meet The Characters

My eighth book, The Wedding that Changed Everything was published recently, so I thought I'd introduce you to some of the characters...

History teacher Emily Atkinson has given up on men. She's been single for a year, and she likes it like that. If only her best friend, Alice could understand and stop setting her up on blind dates!

When Alice asks Emily to accompany her to her sister's wedding, she reluctantly agrees. She's keen to stay at Durban Castle and take in its rich history, but she knows Alice will try to set her up with anything in a pair of trousers.

But Alice offers a deal: come to the wedding and give any potential love matches a chance and Alice will stop trying to match her up - for good.

Alice and Emily have been housemates since university, but Alice has been sketchy about the details of her family's castle. She hasn't visited Durban Castle for over a decade, but she has no choice but to return when her sister holds her week-long wedding celebrations there.

Durban Castle holds some not-so-fond memories for Alice and it means spending a week with her wicked stepmother who doesn't seem to want Alice to be happy, but she has Emily for support, as well as her step-cousin, Archie. Can she survive the week AND find Emily's Prince Charming?

Growing up, Archie was close to Alice and her sister, Carolyn, but they've lost touch over the last few years. As they're reunited, Alice realises her step-cousin could be the perfect match for Emily. But Emily is too stubborn for her own good at times and Alice only has one week to prove Archie is her Prince Charming...

Emily is less than impressed when she meets Durban Castle's gardener, Tom. Although he grew up with Alice and her sister, he's distanced himself from the pair. Alice was so excited to see him after all these years, but is too late to salvage their friendship?

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to find her very own Prince Charming and is giving up on men entirely…

But then she’s invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle and realises that perhaps bumping into a real-life knight in shining armour isn’t quite as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Cover Reveal: The Single Mums' Picnic Club

I'm so excited to be able to show you the beautiful cover for my summer 2018 release, The Single Mums' Picnic Club!

 

Amazon UK | Amazon US

 

The Single Mums' Picnic Club is out on 7th June 2018 but you can pre-order your copy by clicking here

 

 

What do you think? I hope you love it as much as I do and that you enjoy Frankie, Katie and George's story this summer!

Bite-Sized Stories Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is the perfect excuse to immerse yourself in a romantic tale, and I've got five stories that you can read for FREE.

Click the cover to read each story. Enjoy!

If you're looking for a more substantial read, why not give one of my full-length novels a go? You can find all my rom coms here, starting from just 99p!

                              💙     💙     💙     💙     💙





Publication Day: The Wedding that Changed Everything

 

It's an exciting day for me as it's the publication day of my eighth book, The Wedding that Changed Everything! It's already had some lovely early reviews, so I'm glad people are enjoying Emily's story. Releasing a book is always a nerve-wracking experience, but knowing readers have chosen your book and then fallen in love with the characters and settings you've created means the world to an author.

 

To celebrate the book's publication, I'm giving away a prize bundle on my Facebook page. The prize includes a cute castle bookmark, a notebook and magnet set, and some Haribo sweets.

 

 

You'll find my Facebook page here

 

 

 

I've been posting the diary I kept while writing The Wedding that Changed Everything, which you can read by clicking here. You'll find everything from my planning process, the places I struggled and how I pushed through, and the working title of the book. I'll be posting some 'book extras' here on the blog over the next few weeks so do pop back for those!

 

I hope you enjoy The Wedding that Changed Everything and I'd love to hear what you thought of Emily's story 😊

 

 

About the Book

 

 

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to find her very own Prince Charming and is giving up on men entirely…

But then she’s invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle and realises that perhaps bumping into a real-life knight in shining armour isn’t quite as far away as she thought!

 

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?

 

Amazon UK | Amazon US | Kobo | iTunes

 

Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: The Final Stages

I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

*       *       *

Oh, the relief when my editor told me my book was moving onto the copy editing stage! This meant no more revisions. No rewrites. No burning the laptop!

The book has now been copy-edited and I've had one final proofread before I sent it back to my editor for the final time. And do you know what? All that hard work was worth it. The writing and characterisation is so much better than that initial manuscript I sent to my editor back in September. Her revision notes were spot on and I now have a book I'm really proud of. I can't wait for people to read Emily's story - I just hope they like it!

We've had the cover reveal, which has had a really positive response (because it's SO GORGEOUS), the book is up for pre-order, and reviewers have their early copies from Netgalley. So now it's just a case of waiting. And gnawing my fingernails down...



Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?





Amazon UK | Amazon US

Click to see all 'Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything' posts

Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: Edits Part 3

I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

*       *       *

Second Round of Edits

So, I've just completed a second round of edits for The Wedding That Changed Everything. There were a lot of changes during the previous edit - including a new subplot - so I needed to make sure everything tied together more tightly. I also cut a character (but she was a bit of a cow, so don't shed any tears for her) and I've hopefully strengthened the relationship between Emily and her hero even further!

Luckily, this edit was nowhere near as intense as the last round, and I didn't feel the need to burn my laptop at any point - progress! I did, however, put back over 8,000 (new) words after cutting lots last time round. But hopefully these words are better words! The book is again with my editor, so fingers crossed I've nailed it this time.

The cover reveal is SO CLOSE now. I can't wait to share the book's gorgeous cover!

Previous Word Count

82,209

New Words:

8,487

New Word Count

90,696

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?





Amazon UK | Amazon US

Click to see all 'Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything' posts



Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: Edits Part 2

I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

*       *       *

First Round of Edits: Complete

Wowsers, that was one hell of a rewrite! So much changed, so much was removed and added and developed... I'm bloody exhausted now!

I have to admit that in the beginning, I was ready for burning my laptop again, but as I got into it and started to develop the relationship between Emily and her hero more than I had in the previous draft, I could definitely see why my editor had suggested I ramp it up. I loved revisiting their scenes and creating more, and hopefully it will have much more impact now.

I'm not going to lie; this edit was a LOT of hard work (which took almost a month!), but hopefully it will make a much better read. This is why editors are worth their weight in gold!

While I was mid-edit, I received an exciting email from my editor, revealing the cover of the book - which now has a shiny new title: The Wedding That Changed Everything. I will miss The Fairytale Effect, but I love the new title and absolutely ADORE the cover. It's so pretty and I can't wait to show it off. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a wait until the reveal. Hopefully I won't burst from repressed excitement!

The book is back with my editor now, so I'm going to have a well-earned rest from writing for a few days before I dip back into Book 9 while I wait for the next round of edits!

Previous Word Count

92,582

Words Cut:

10,373

New Word Count

82,209

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?





Amazon UK | Amazon US

Click to see all 'Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything' posts



Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: Edits Part 1

I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

*       *       *

First Round of Edits

So, the first round of edits landed in my inbox yesterday, and I'm going to be brutally honest here, I'd have quite happily burned the book - laptop and all - and never attempted to write another word again.

The good news is, I've realised this is a completely normal reaction to receiving editorial notes. I've reacted in a similar way every single time before and, after speaking to some writer friends, it seems it isn't an uncommon feeling at all. And, to my knowledge, none of us has ever actually burned our books (or laptops) afterwards.

The other bit of good news is, despite feeling all this before, I've always got through the edits and produced a much better book at the end. Knowing this made me feel less hyperventilate-y (but couldn't take it away completely, obviously) and I did what I always do: I got on with the job.

I didn't actually sit down at my laptop and start to edit straight away, however. I need a bit of time to let my editor's thoughts settle, to mull over the new ideas before I open the document and dive into a new draft. I knew this edit was going to be BIG. Huge. It would involve a lot of rewriting scenes - and writing brand new ones from scratch - and shifting things around. There would be a lot of work, but I needed to keep reminding myself that the book will be much better because of it.

Once I've got my head (sort of) around what's needed, I take my editor's notes and create a plan of action, expanding with my own thoughts and dividing the points into sections and bullet points. It makes it clearer for me to understand what I need to do and it means I can cross off the points as I achieve them in the manuscript. Every writer has their own methods, but this is what I've found works for me.

So now I have my revision notes, it's time to dive into the book again. Wish me luck (I think I'll need it!)

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?





Amazon UK | Amazon US

Click to see all 'Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything' posts